Amara Essy (born 20 December 1944) is a diplomat from Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast).

Essy was born in Bouake. He was the Permanent Representative of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations from 1981 to 1990, and in January 1990 he was President of the United Nations Security Council. In 1990 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs, and while in that position he served as President of the 49th Session of the United Nations General Assembly from 1994 to 1995. In 1998 he gained the rank of Minister of State, while remaining Foreign Minister. Along with other ministers, he was detained following the military coup of 24 December 1999, but he was released on 28 December. He was replaced in the transitional government named on 4 January 2000.

On 9 July 2001 he was elected secretary-general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Lusaka, Zambia, with the task of leading the OAU's transformation into the African Union over the course of one year. He took office as secretary-general in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 17 September 2001. Essy served in that position until 9 July 2002, when the OAU became the African Union and he was appointed as interim Chairman of the Commission of the African Union.

Nicolas Sarkozy (pronounced [ni.kɔ.la saʁ.kɔ.zi] ( listen), born Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa; 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as the 23rd President of the French Republic from 16 May 2007 until 15 May 2012.

Before his presidency, he was leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Under Jacques Chirac's presidency he served as Minister of the Interior in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's (UMP) first two governments (from May 2002 to March 2004), then was appointed Minister of Finances in Raffarin's last government (March 2004 to May 2005) and again Minister of the Interior in Dominique de Villepin's government (2005–2007).

Sarkozy was also president of the General council of the Hauts-de-Seine department from 2004 to 2007 and mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest communes of France from 1983 to 2002. He was Minister of the Budget in the government of Édouard Balladur (RPR, predecessor of the UMP) during François Mitterrand's last term.

In foreign affairs, he promised a strengthening of the entente cordiale with the United Kingdom and closer cooperation with the United States. During his term, he faced the late-2000s financial crisis (followed by the recession and the debt crisis caused by it) and the Arab Spring (especially in Tunisia, Libya, and Syria). He also married Italian-French singer-songwriter Carla Bruni on 2 February 2008 at the Élysée Palace in Paris.

Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpedɾu vɨˈɾonɐ ʁuˈdɾiɡɨʃ ˈpiɾɨʃ]; born 29 April 1934) was the President of Cape Verde from March 2001 to September 2011. Before becoming President, he was Prime Minister from 1975 to 1991.

After the ruling African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) decided to institute multiparty democracy in February 1990, Pires replaced President Aristides Pereira as General Secretary of PAICV in August 1990. The PAICV lost the multiparty parliamentary and presidential elections held in early 1991 and was left in opposition. At a party congress in August 1993, Pires was replaced as General Secretary by Aristides Lima and was instead elected as President of PAICV. As a candidate for the party presidency at PAICV's September 1997 congress, he faced José Maria Neves and prevailed with 68% of the vote. He stepped down as PAICV President in 2000 in preparation for a presidential bid in the next year's election and he was succeeded by Neves. He officially announced his candidacy for the Presidency of Cape Verde on September 5, 2000.

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, GCFR, BNER, GCON (born 20 November 1957) is the 14th Head of State and current President of Nigeria. Prior to his role as President, he served as Governor of Bayela State and Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Jonathan was born in what is now Bayelsa State to a family of canoe makers. Jonathan holds a B.S. degree in Zoology in which he attained Second Class Honours. He also holds an M.Sc. degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries biology, and a Ph.D. degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. After earning his degree, he worked as an education inspector, lecturer, and environmental-protection officer, until he decided to enter politics in 1998.

Jonathan and his wife, Patience, have two children. He is a Christian and comes from the Ijaw ethnic group.

Former President Umaru Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010. Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as Yar'Adua's successor on the following day, becoming Nigeria's 14th Head of State, to serve until the next election, in 2011, at which time he could elect to run again, which he has done. Upon taking office, he cited anti-corruption, power and electoral reform as focuses of his administration. He stated that he came to office under "very sad and unusual circumstances".

Mourad Medelci (born April 30, 1943 in Tlemcen) is an Algerian politician and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria.

Medelci studied Economics at the University of Algiers receiving his Bachelor's degree in 1966 and Masters degree in 1968. From 1970 to 1980 he worked in the private sector before entering public service as Secretary General of the Ministry of Commerce in 1980. He is married with five children.

Medelci was Minister of Trade from 1988 to 1989 and Deputy Minister for the Budget from 1990 to 1991. He was again Minister of Trade from 1999 to 2001, then Minister of Finance from 2001 to 2002. From 2002 to May 2005 he was adviser to the president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika. In May 2005 he became Minister of Finance again, serving in that position until he became Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on June 4, 2007.